Had a lot of questions about this ability in our game, and the text is a bit vague. Does anyone know exactly how is works in play? When does the Barbarian make her CON roll? Does her attack have to hit for intimidation to work? How long does it work for? How does it work on multiple creatures when she can only attack one? Any C&C Barbarian experts out there that can get me up to speed?

INTIMIDATE (CONSTITUTION): Barbarians offer animposing display of ferocious raw power. They instinctivelyrealize that victory lies in the wine-besotted, soft demeanors oftheir foe and that brute force works best when combined withoverwhelming terror. Barbarians are able to project themselvesas this brutal, terrifying force. Whether through sheer force ofwill, or savage decorum, a barbarian is able to strike fear into andintimidate his opponents. While attacking and upon a successfulconstitution check any creature of equal or lesser hit dice ofthe barbarian suffers -2 to all rolls, including but not limitedto initiative, attack, damage and attribute checks. This abilitytakes effect as soon as the barbarian uses the ability. He mustannounce it before rolling initiative. It has a 15 foot radius areaof effect. Intimidate is usable only once per combat encounter.At 1st level, a barbarian can intimidate one creature. Thenumber of creatures intimidated increases with level as follows:up to 2 creatures at 3rd level, up to 4 creatures at 6th level, upto 8 creatures at 10th level, and up to 16 creatures at 15th level.The intimidation ends the moment the barbarian fails to strikethe intimidated creature.

The barbarian themselves makes this CON check. I keep it at a simple CON check, meaning no CL is added to the roll.

1. It says the effect ends as soon as the barbarian fails to strike the intimidated enemy... so, does that mean if the the intimidated enemy wins initiative, and the barbarian has not yet had a chance to attack, does the effect automatically end? Or does it continue until the barbarian's turn, at which point it ends if the barbarian misses his attack?

2. If the barbarian can intimidate two creatures, but only attack one, when does the effect end for the other enemy?

3. How does this work if the CK only rolls initiative once, and keeps the order for the whole combat? The barbarian has to declare the ability before that roll, and if not, cannot use it for the entire combat?

4. If the Barbarian fails her CON check, does that count as a "use" ? or can they try again next initiative?

These are strictly my takes on the ability, and how I have or will play it when these questions come up. Though I try to go by the book, or by the spirit of the book rulings as much as possible.

1.) When the barbarian refuses to attack an intimidated enemy, or simply misses their roll to hit, the effect immediately ends. I would give the barbarian at least 1 additional round beyond the round intimidation is used to be able to strike the enemy. So if the barbarian uses this ability in round one (which should take an action IMO), but loses initiative in the 2nd round, the effect is still in place.

2.) The barbarian is fulfilling the obligation to attack one of the intimidated enemies, so therefore the effect wouldn't end unless the barbarian refused to attack one of the intimidated creatures, or missed an attack roll against them.

3.) Since C&C calls for initiative to be rolled every round, you'll have to houserule the ability yourself if you choose to only decide initiative once.

4.) If the barbarian fails the CON check, they have not yet used the ability. They can try from round to round if they so choose because the ability is only "used" the moment it actually works. However, using these special class abilities usually takes the character's action in the round. So failing the CON check for intimidate, while using the barbarian's action that round, would still be able to attempt the intimidate CON check in later rounds if they so choose.

For another prespective, I allow intimidate to continue as long as the barbarian swings at the intimidated target (regardless if they hit or miss). Large bad guys aside a barbarian with a bearded axe does a lot of damage (especially with a high str) so foes tend to die quickly and I try to encourage the ability to stay active as long as possible.

For the CON check to activate it, I usually apply a CL equal to the bad guys HD as well.

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